No need for Trump, Jess can pay the Bills

PICTURE this as a conversation around Jessica Pegula’s family dinner table.

“So Dad, are you going to buy the team?”

Terry Pegula pauses, puts down his knife and fork and replies: “Yeah, I think we’re going to get it. Donald Trump and Jon Bon Jovi have been sniffing around but it looks like we’ve got them covered.”

The team in question is the Buffalo Bills and in 2014 the Pegula’s outbid Trump and Bon Jovi to purchase the NFL franchise for US$1.4 billion — three years after they’d bought NHL team Buffalo Sabres for US$189 million.

It’s jaw dropping stuff and that’s exactly the same reaction Jessica Pegula is getting at the Australian Open.

The unseeded 26-year-old American has stormed into the quarter-finals after taking down fifth-seed Elina Svitolina 6-4 3-6 6-3.

It’s certainly been a good month for the family with the Bills also enjoying a breakout season on the back of young quarterback Josh Allen, making the AFC Championship game for the first time since 1994.

“I think it’s been really cool to watch them and kind of channel that energy into how I’ve been doing.” Pegula said. “Yeah, I think it does go one in the same a little bit. It goes hand-in-hand.

“It’s definitely something I think I tried to take into my game a little bit, even watching the team getting that grit, that competitive attitude, having that mindset.”

Terry Pegula made his money in the fracking business before selling the bulk of his oil and gas company East Resources for more than US$5billion.

Pegula, who is now guaranteed a handy $525,000 payday of her own, considered giving up tennis after a long battle with knee and hip injuries.

Her ranking of 61 is sit to drop dramatically.